1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuit (IC) packages, and more particularly to a surface mountable microwave IC package which provides high performance at a reasonable cost.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The application of microwave gallium-arsenide (GaAs) integrated circuits is limited by package performance and/or complexity. Typical packages using milled metal enclosures with ceramic substrates are expensive and rarely hermetic. Hermetic enclosures, such as Kyocera or NTK multilayer ceramic carriers, are limited to one to two gigahertz with reasonable performance. High performance carriers, such as the Hypcon described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,003 issued Mar. 10, 1981 entitled "Electrical Connector" by William E. Berg, are expensive and complex.
What is desired is a low cost, hermetic or semi-hermetic, high performance, surface mountable GaAs microwave IC carrier.